Authors: Arthur Hailey
"Not yet
,”
he said; then added, "you know we've been given pretty much a
blank check where talent is concerned
?
”
"I was told last night. So I've asked for three producers to begin-Norman
Jaeger, Iris Everly and Karl Owens. They'll be here soon
.”
“
Great choices
.”
Partridge knew all three well. Their abilities were among
the best in CBA News
.”
Oh, I've allocated offices. Do you want to see yours
?
”
Rita led the way around five adjoining offices which would constitute the
task force operating base. Network news departments were perpetually in a
state of flux, with temporary projects being created and disbanded, so when
need arose, required accommodation could usually be found
.
Partridge would have an office to himself, as would Rita. Two other
offices, already jammed with desks, would be shared by the additional
producers, camera crews and support staff, some of whom were already moving
in. Partridge and Rita exchanged greetings with them before returning to
the fifth and largest office, the conference room, to continue planning
.”
What I'd like
,”
Partridge said, "is to have a meeting as soon as possible
with everyone who'll be working with us. We
can al
locate responsibilities, then begin work on a spot for tonight's news
.”
Rita glanced at her watch: 8:45 A.M
.”
I'll set it up for ten o'clock
,”
she said
.”
Right now I want to find out
more about what's happening at Larchmont
.”
"In all the years I've lived here
,”
the Larchmont police sergeant said
,
"I've never seen anything like it
.”
He was speaking with FBI Special Agent Havelock who had emerged from the
Sloane house a few minutes earlier to survey a throng of spectators
outside. The crowd had been growing in size since dawn and now packed the
sidewalks in front of the house. In some places they spilled onto the
road where police officers were trying, not too successfully, to control
the crowd and keep passing cars moving. Otis Havelock, having stayed in
the house overnight, was concerned that Sloane, who was inside getting
ready for work, might be mobbed on his way out
.
Clustered by the front gate were television crews and other reporters
.
As Havelock appeared, TV cameras swung toward him amid shouted questions:
"Have you heard from the kidnappers
?
”
"How's Sloane holding up
?
”
"Can we talk to Crawford
?
”
"Who are you
?
”
In response Havelock shook his head and waved his hands dismissingly
.
Beyond the press group, the crowd appeared orderly, though Havelock's
appearance had increased the buzz of conversation
.
The FBI man complained to the police sergeant, "Can't you people keep
this street clear
?
”
"We're trying. The Chief has ordered barriers. We'll stop traffic and
pedestrians, except for those who live on the street, then we'll try to
clear these others out. It'll take at least an hour. The Chief doesn't
want anyone hassled, not with all those cameras around
.”
"Any idea where these people are from
?
”
"I asked a few
,”
the sergeant said
.”
They mostly drove in from outside
Larchmont. I guess it's seeing all that excitement on TV, and wanting a
glimpse of Mr. Sloane. The streets around are full of their cars
.”
Rain had begun to fall, but it didn't seem to discourage the watchers
.
Instead they put up umbrellas or huddled in their coats
.
Havelock returned to the house. Inside he told Crawford Sloane, who looked
tired and gaunt, "When we leave, it will be in two unmarked FBI cars. I
want you in the second. Crouch down in the back and we'll drive away fast
.”
"No way
,”
Sloane said
.”
There are media people out there. I'm one of them
and I can't sail by as if I were the President
.”
"There may also be someone out there from the people who seized your wife
and family
.”
Havelock's voice sharpened
.”
Who knows what they might try
,
including shooting you? So don't be a damn fool, Mr. Sloane. And remember
I'm responsible for your safety
.”
In the end they agreed to invite the camera crews and reporters into the
hallway of the house for an impromptu press conference which Sloane would
handle. As the journalists trooped in they looked around the luxurious home
with curiosity, some with unconcealed envy. The questions and answers that
followed were mostly repetitive of those the preceding day, the only new
information being that there had been no communication from the kidnappers
during the night
.”
I can't tell you any more
,”
Sloane said finally
.”
There simply isn't
anything. I wish there were
.”
Havelock, while present and watchful, declined to participate in the
exchanges and eventually the reporters, some of whom seemed resentful at
the lack of news, left as they had come
.”
Now, Mr. Sloane
,”
Havelock said, "I want us to leave here in the way I
described-with you in the back of the car, down low and out of sight
.”
Reluctantly, Sloane agreed
.
But in the execution of the plan, an unforeseen misfortune happened
.
Crawford Sloane entered the FBI car so quickly that it was
observed by only a few people in the crowd outside. However, those few promptly passed the word to others so that the message spread like fire--~'Sloane's in the second car
.”
Within the same car Havelock and another FBI agent were in the backseat, with Sloane uncomfortably on his hands and knees between them. A third FBI agent was at the wheel
.
Two more FBI men were in the first car and both cars began moving
immediately
.
With the crowd now apprised of Sloane's departure, some at the rear
pushed forward, impelling those at the front off the sidewalk and onto
the road. At that point several things occurred in swift succession
.
The lead car emerged from the Sloanes' driveway, waved out by a
policeman. It was traveling fast, with the second car close behind. Then
suddenly, as spectators opposite the driveway were pushed even farther
onto the road, the first car's previously clear path was blocked. Its
driver, shocked to see a hue of people facing him, jammed on his brakes
.
In other circumstances the lead car might have stopped in time. As it
was, on a wet road surface slick from recent rain, it skidded sideways
.
To the sound of screeching tires followed by a series of horrifying thuds
and human screams, the car plowed a path through the front ranks of
spectators
.
The occupants of the second car-excepting Sloane, who could not
see-gasped in horror and braced for a similar collision. But as people
scrambled hastily to the opposite side of the road, the crowd parted and
Havelock, his face set grimly,
ordered the driver, "Don't stop-
Keep
going
!
”
Afterward, Havelock would defend his apparently callous action
by explaining, "It all happened so fast, I wasn't sure of anything and
figured it could be an ambush
.”
Crawford Sloane, aware only that something unexpected was in progress
,
raised his head to peer out. At that precise moment, a TV camera already
focused on the car caught Sloane's face in closeup, then stayed with the
car as it sped from the accident scene. Viewers who later saw the
videotape on air had no means of knowing that Sloane was pleading to go
back, but Havelock insisted, "There are police right there. They'll do whatever's needed
.”
The Larchmont police did control the situation and several ambulances
were rushed to the
scene. When the toll was reckone
d, eight people had
been injured-six with minor lacerations and bruises, two seriously. Of
the seriously hurt, one man sustained a broken arm and crushed ribs while
a young woman had a leg so badly mangled that it required amputation
.
The accident, though tragic, in other circumstances would not have gained
wide attention. Because of the association with the Sloane family kidnap
,
it received national coverage and some of the blame appeared, by
implication, to attach to Crawford Sloane.
The researcher from CBA's London bureau, Teddy Cooper, had been flown in
,
as promised, on that morning's Concorde. He came directly to the task
force offices, arriving shortly before 10 A.M., and reported first to
Harry Partridge, then to Rita. The three went to the conference room
where the group meeting was assembling
.
On the way in, Cooper met Crawford Sloane who also had arrived a few
minutes earlier, still shaken from his experience at Larchmont
.
Cooper, a wiry slip of a man, radiated energy and confidence. His brown
lank hair, worn longer than was now fashionable, framed a pale face that
bore signs of adolescent acne. The effect was to make him seem even
younger than his twenty-five years. Though a born-and-bred Londoner, he
had been in the U.S. several times before and was familiar with New York
.
To Crawford Sloane, he declared, "Sorry to hear about your missus and
family, Mister S, but cheer up! I'm here now! I'll have those buggers
before you know it. It's what I'm good atl
”
Sloane, glancing at Partridge, raised his eyebrows inquiringly, as if to
ask, Are you sure we want this bird?
Partridge said dryly, "Modesty has never been Teddy's problem. We'll give
him some rope and see what happens
.”
The exchange seemed not to bother
Cooper in the least
.
To Partridge, Cooper said, "First thing, Harry, is to check
out the reports. Then I'll suss out the scene of the crime. I want a word with the geezers who saw it happen-and I mean everyone. There's no point pissin' about. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right
.”
"You do it your way
.”
Partridge remembered previous occasions when he had
witnessed Cooper at work
.”
You'll be in charge of research here, with two
assistants
.”
T
he assistant researchers, a young man and woman who had been borrowed
from another CBA project, were already in the conference room. While
waiting for the meeting to begin, Partridge introduced them
.
Cooper shook hands and said, "Working with me will be a great experience
for you, kids. Don't be nervous, though-I'm very informal. Just call me
'your excellency,' and you need only salute first thing each morning
.”
The researchers seemed amused by Cooper and the trio began discussing a
"Sequence of Events
”
board, already in place in the conference room and
occupying an entire wall. A standard procedure in task force reporting, it
would record every known detail about the Sloane kidnapping, in proper
sequence. On another wall was a second large board, headed "Miscellaneous
.”